Oscar Onley will join INEOS Grenadiers during the off-season, just days after the team officially launched its Racing Academy — an ambitious development project with a strong focus on British talent. The Manchester-based outfit have now gone a step further by securing the signing of the fourth-place finisher at the 2025 Tour de France, who arrives from Picnic PostNL. At just 23 years of age, the British rider embodies both the present and the future of the INEOS project, as the team looks to reconnect with its national identity while restoring long-term credibility on the Grand Tour stage.
Oscar Onley, from breakout talent to a genuine Grand Tour contender
Two years ago, Oscar Onley’s name was known only to the most attentive followers of the sport. Today, he stands as one of the most exciting British climbers, and all-round stage racers of his generation, having finished fourth overall at the 2025 Tour de France at just 23 years old, in a field of exceptional depth. It was an unexpected breakthrough, particularly as Onley spent a significant part of the race locked in a close battle with Florian Lipowitz in the general classification, with the podium and the white jersey firmly in his sights : honours that ultimately went to the German.
Born in London but raised in Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, Onley was not initially destined for elite-level cycling. As a child, his first sporting love was cross-country running before he turned seriously towards road cycling in his teenage years. It was during this period that he gradually shaped the profile he possesses today: an endurance-based puncheur-climber, capable of repeating high-intensity efforts in the mountains and sustaining performance over three weeks.
After spells with Van Rysel–AG2R La Mondiale at youth level and later within DSM’s development structure, Onley learned his trade away from the limelight, in teams that prioritised long-term progression over immediate exposure. The 2022 season marked a first major turning point. He finished third overall at the CRO Race, claimed the young rider classification, and measured himself against Jonas Vingegaard on demanding terrain — an early indication of his ceiling. However, it was with Team Picnic PostNL from 2023 onwards that his raw potential began to translate into tangible results.
Following a curtailed 2023 Vuelta a España ended prematurely by a crash, Onley took a decisive step forward in 2024. A stage victory at the Tour Down Under and consistent performances across stage races confirmed his upward trajectory. Later that year, he completed his first Tour de France in 39th place overall, a learning experience that would prove invaluable. Twelve months on, the picture looked very different.
At the 2025 Tour de France, Oscar Onley stepped into an entirely new dimension, despite not being among the pre-race favourites. He stood firm in the high mountains, handled the relentless Alpine and Pyrenean sequences with maturity, and established himself solidly within the top five of the general classification. Fourth in Paris, he also finished second in the young rider classification, despite showing signs of fatigue in the final stages when exhaustion is at its peak and experience often makes the difference.
INEOS Grenadiers, a project reshaped with a strong British identity
Now a sports director at INEOS Grenadiers, Geraint Thomas was quick to praise Onley’s maturity:
“His understanding of racing and the way he reads a race show exceptional maturity for someone his age.”
Onley’s arrival cannot be separated from the broader context in which INEOS Grenadiers currently operate. Long dominant on the Grand Tour scene under their former Team Sky identity, the British squad have endured more challenging seasons in recent years, often playing a reduced role in overall classifications — largely due to the era-defining dominance of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. The recruitment of Onley, alongside the launch of the Racing Academy, signals a clear intention: to once again develop a rider capable of winning Grand Tours, and to do so by investing in homegrown talent.
Around Onley, INEOS already boast a strong and complementary British core. Recently retired, Geraint Thomas — Tour de France winner in 2018 and one of the most influential figures in British cycling appears ideally placed to guide the next generation. Joshua Tarling, from Aberaeron, represents that new wave: a world-class time triallist in his early twenties, already capable of challenging the very best, and one of the few riders who looks able to rival Remco Evenepoel against the clock. Ben Turner, Ben Swift, Connor Swift and Samuel Watson provide a range of profiles, from Classics specialists and mountain domestiques to pure sprinters capable of winning stages and one-day races.
Yet it is perhaps within the INEOS Grenadiers Racing Academy that the shift is most revealing. With Josh Charlton, Max Hinds, Mattie Dodd, Dylan Sage and Max Standen, the team have committed to a diverse group of British riders drawn from track cycling, mountain biking and the continental scene — a clear statement of intent regarding long-term development.
In this context, Oscar Onley emerges as the perfect bridge between the present and the future. Young enough to symbolise what lies ahead, yet already established at the highest level, he carries genuine Grand Tour ambitions. His decision to join INEOS was no coincidence. “The opportunity to represent my country was too good to turn down,” he said at the official announcement.
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